Profile: Billionaire Ron Burkle Is Close to Unions, Despite His Wealth

http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/070605/in_the_news_ron_burkle.html?

AP
Profile: Burkle Close to Unions
Tuesday June 5, 5:22 pm ET
By Gary Gentile, AP Business Writer
Profile: Billionaire Ron Burkle Is Close to Unions, Despite His Wealth

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- During the 1992 riots here, a number of grocery stores owned by billionaire Ron Burkle were damaged and looted.

Burkle could have closed the stores and collected the insurance.

Instead, the former bag boy kept them operating, paying pensions and health insurance for his workers, despite the loss of business.


AP Photo: Pittsburgh Penguins co-owner, Ron Burkle listens as his partner Mario Lemieux addresses a news conference where government officials and the Penguins announced they reached an agreement on plans to finance and build a new arena, keeping the Penguins in Pittsburgh, in this March 13, 2007 file photo.

"His attitude was always to consider the workers," said Rick Icaza, president of United Food and Commercial Workers Local 770. "He worked in the industry. He never forgot where he came from."

The 54-year-old Burkle is now working with a union representing workers at Dow Jones & Co. to explore alternatives to Rupert Murdoch's $5 billion bid for the company, which publishes The Wall Street Journal.

Burkle began his grocery career at a Southern California supermarket chain where his father was an executive. He later purchased the business, then acquired and sold larger companies, including Ralphs supermarkets. In 1999 Burkle sold the Fred Meyer chain, which he had built from a number of smaller chains, to Kroger Co. for a profit of $1.8 billion.

FULL story at link.

Sounds like a good billionaire to me. Never forgetting where he came from. Too bad more of them can't be like that. For that matter, why doesn't he buy my beloved Cubs and turn things around with them? Ah, never mind. Hope he has good luck getting anything away from Murdoch.

He can buy the WSJ. Can you imagine what kind of LIES a financial paper would have in it that's owned by Murdoch?
OMG!